Previously, she was the Director of USAID's Office of Civil Rights and Diversity (OCRD), Chief Diversity Officer and Settlement Official on informal and formal equal employment opportunity (EEO) complaints. She also served as the Co-Chair of USAID's Executive Diversity Council alongside USAID’s Deputy Administrator, working to promote diversity and inclusion throughout the Agency.

Before joining USAID, Ms. Detherage was the Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Strategic Programs Directorate and DCHCO. In 2005, Ms. Detherage was appointed by then HHS Secretary, Michael O. Leavitt, to serve as the first Executive Director for the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals. Ms. Detherage provided executive leadership, guidance and oversight for the newly established office of over 60 administrative law judges, 120 attorneys, and nationwide staff in the areas of management ranging from policy development and implementation on Medicare appeals procedures, to human capital, ethics, personnel security, training and development, national policy, budget, IT, and presidential mandates.

Ms. Detherage also previously served as the HHS Director of Labor and Employee Relations Programs, providing corporate oversight for the labor and employee relations policies and programs at HHS, including NIH, FDA, CDC, CMS, and other HHS entities. She was intricately involved in the planning, strategy, and execution of the Department’s major initiatives. She served as a mentor to participants in the Senior Executive Service (SES) Candidate Development Program, Emerging Leaders Program, Presidential Fellows Program and Department-wide Mentor Program.

Ms. Detherage began her federal career in 1989 as a Graduate Fellow in HHS’s Center for Management Excellence where she served as an internal consultant to the Department’s policy arm on Equal Employment Opportunity and Labor Relations.

Ms. Detherage became a member of the SES Corps in 2005 and is also a member of the Federal Executive Institute Alumni Association, Harvard Kennedy School of Executive Education Alumni, the American Association of Arbitrators and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, where she served as chair of the Global Poverty Committee. She has been recognized in the “1999 Edition of “International Who’s Who of Professionals” and has served for many years on the Executive Board of the Executive Women’s Golf Association, Southern Maryland Tri-County Chapter, as Vice President and Leadership Chair. Prior to joining USAID, Ms. Detherage was awarded the “2013 International Women’s Day Award” for her local and international work in global poverty. In addition to being a federal public servant, she considers herself a global citizen, global volunteer, and a social entrepreneur. In a 2016 interview at the White House’s FedWomenLead Executive Program, she summed up her personal thoughts on public service by saying, “Being a public servant means being able to give the best of me to ensure the best for others, all across the globe. For me, it’s that simple.”